Friday, April 12
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
vs
California
Jordan Woolery
Photo by: Marie Goldfarb
No. 12 Softball Hosts Top-25 Series Versus California
April 11, 2024 | Softball
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 12 UCLA softball team hosts a three-game set versus No. 20 California at Easton Stadium this week, beginning Friday, April 12 at 7:05 p.m. (PT). All three games between the Bruins (23-9, 8-3 Pac-12) and Golden Bears (29-11, 4-8 Pac-12) will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
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First pitch for Saturday is 5:05 p.m. and first pitch for Sunday is 2:05 p.m.
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Quick Hits
ยท UCLA is 23-9 on the season and 8-3 in Pac-12 play with series wins over Utah, No. 24 Oregon and Oregon State
ยท The Bruins are second in the Pac-12 standings and 2.5 games back of first-place No. 8 Stanford (32-6, 11-1 Pac-12).
ยท RS Sr. Maya Brady leads UCLA with a .396 average, 10 home runs, 38 runs batted in and 26 runs scored.
ยท For the second straight year, Brady is leading the Pac-12 in slugging percentage with an .802 mark.
ยท Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list (64). She has two multi-homer games this season.
ยท RS Sr. Sharlize Palacios is second on the team with nine home runs.
ยท So. Jordan Woolery has homered in three of her last seven games and has five total on the season.
ยท Fr. Kaitlyn Terry owns a perfect 11-0 record and leads UCLA with a 1.96 earned run average.
ยท Terry is one of three Pac-12 pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA. She has hauled in two Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards.
ยท Kelly Inouye-Perez is two wins away from 800 in her head coaching career.
ยท So. Taylor Tinsley has started the most games in the circle for UCLA (16) and recorded an 9-8 record and 2.39 ERA.
ยท The Bruins were picked to finish second in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll (did not receive a first-place vote).
ยท UCLA won its 12th Pac-12 regular-season championship in 2023 with a 21-3 record (17th overall conference title).
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Last Time Out
UCLA defeated Cal State Fullerton, 8-0, in six innings on Tuesday earlier this week. A pair of two-run homers off the bats of Maya Brady and Jordan Woolery in the first and second inning gave pitcher Kaitlyn Terry more than enough run support. The freshman southpaw twirled her fifth shutout of the season and struck out eight batters the process. UCLA rallied in the sixth inning for four runs on five hits, including three pinch hits, to mercy rule the Titans.
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Recapping the Oregon State Series
UCLA won two out of three games of its series at Oregon State last week (April 5-7) despite out-scoring the Beavers, 11-4.
Game 1 (W, 6-1): Taylor Tinsley struck out a career-high 12 batters and limited the opposition to just three hits in the Bruins' game one victory. All three of Oregon State's hits were courtesy of one player, Maddy Clark. Tinsley struck out multiple batters in five of the first six innings.
Game 2 (W, 5-2): Catcher Sharlize Palacios highlighted UCLA's offense with a 3-for-3 day, including a double. Jadelyn Allchin and Seneca Curo homered in the contests. Curo's home run marked her first of the season and first since February 2023.
Game 3 (L, 0-1): The Bruins were shutout for the third time this season in the series finale in Corvallis. UCLA now has two 1-0 shutout losses (other was to No. 13 Florida on March 1).
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Coach I Nearing 800 Wins
UCLA Head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 798-206-1 record and is two wins away from win No. 800 in her career. Inouye-Perez would join UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers and her two predecessors Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist in the 800 win club. Enquist leads UCLA's triad of head coaches with 887 career head coaching wins while Backus owns 854 such wins. Inouye-Perez was coached by both Backus and Enquist in her time as a catcher on the Bruins' roster from 1989-93 and later coached alongside Backus and Enquist as an assistant upon graduating. Only one active Pac-12 head coach has achieved 800 career wins: Heather Tarr at Washington.
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Terry's Impressive Freshman Campaign
With a win over Oregon State last week and Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, Kaitlyn Terry now sports a perfect 11-0 record across her 22 appearances this season. Terry's 11 wins are tied for fifth-most in the conference. With a minimum of 45 innings pitched, Terry is only pitcher in the Pac-12 without a loss on her record. Her 1.97 ERA ranks third in the conference.
ยท Terry has not allowed more than three runs in a game since late February (four runs allowed on Feb. 23 vs. Nebraska).
ยท Terry has went at least 5.0 innings in each of her last six starts and picked up a win in five of those games. In that span, Terry recorded a 0.98 ERA and struck out 25 batters of 35.2 innings.
ยท Terry leads all Pac-12 freshmen in ERA (1.97), strikeouts (84), innings pitched (88.2) and shutouts (5).
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Notes on Taylor Tinsley
Sophomore Taylor Tinsley has shown consistent improvement since week one of the season. In 2024, Tinsley owns a 2.39 ERA and 110 strikeouts over 88.2 innings pitched after totaling just 57.1 innings of work in all of last season in her All-Pac-12 Freshman Team campaign. Tinsley, the first UCLA softball player from the state of Georgia, was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 26 following her performances at the Mary Nutter Classic.ย
close losses: Four of Tinsley's eight losses this season have come in one-run ballgames. Tinsley allowed one earned run or less in all four of those losses.
game one starter: Tinsley has been the game one starter in three of UCLA's four Pac-12 series this season. She has started two games in two of the full three-game series (excludes Oregon Series, which had game three rained out).
at the Mary Nutter: Tinsley allowed just two earned runs across three complete-game performances and 22.0 total innings pitched at the Mary Nutter. Among all the pitchers competing at the Mary Nutter (30 teams participating), Tinsley ranked first in innings pitched (22.0) and strikeouts looking (10) and tied for first in strikeouts (30).
vs. Utah: Tinsley picked up two wins, struck out 16 batters and did not allow an earned run over 10.2 innings to help the Bruins to a series sweep of Utah (March 8-10). In her game one victory, Tinsley threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball and allowed only one base runner into scoring position. She finished her outing with nine strikeouts and surrendered just two hits. She limited the Pac-12 batting average leader entering the series, Haley Denning, to 0-for-6 with two Ks.
vs. Oregon: Tinsley allowed just one earned run and was the winning pitcher in both of UCLA's two games versus Oregon (March 28-29). In game one of the series, Tinsley entered in relief and got the Bruins out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning with a strikeout. She retired the Ducks in order in the seventh on just six pitches to close the game. Tinsley turned in 4.0 solid innings in her game-two start, allowing just one run.
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Brady's Senior Season
Brady's big fly versus Cal State Fullerton in the first inning marked her team-leading 10th homer of the season. Brady now has double-digit home runs in all four full seasons of her career (excludes 2020). Brady also leads the Pac-12 with an .802 slugging percentage through 32 games this season; she led the Pac-12 in slugging last season with an .866 mark.
ยท Brady notched her second two-homer game of the season and eighth of her career in the series finale at then-No. 8 Washington on March 24.
ยท The shortstop has shored up on the defensive side of the ball as well with just one error in the month of March (16 games). Since March 1, Brady's fielding percentage has improved 97 points to .910. This season marks Brady's second campaign as UCLA's starting shortstop. She took over the role full-time on March 3, 2023 after Seneca Curo sustained a season-ending injury. She has started at shortstop in 80 career games.
ยท In 2023, Brady was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 3 Finalist in addition to being a consensus First Team All-American. Brady led UCLA with a .448 average, 18 home runs, 59 RBI, 63 runs scored, 33 extra-base hits and 149 total bases last season.
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Brady in the Record Books
Career Home Runs: Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list with 64. Although she won't touch Stacey Nuveman's program record (90 HR), Brady needs three home runs to pass Stephany LaRosa (2012-15) with 66 career home runs for second all-time. Brady's two-homer game versus Washington on March 24 pushed her passed Tairia Mims (2000-03) and Delaney Spaulding (2014-17) with 61 career homers.
Career Two-Homer Games: Brady's two homers against the Huskies on March 24 marked the eighth multi-homer game of her career which is the third most by a Bruin in UCLA history. She moved out of a tie with LaRosa and B.B. Batesย (2010-13) with seven. Andrea Harrison (2009-12) ranks second in UCLA history with nine multi-homer games while Stacey Nuveman is first with 12.
Career RBI: Brady became the seventh Bruin to reach 200 career RBI with her grand slam in the second inning of UCLA's 12-1 victory over Utah on March 10. Brady is up to 216 RBI in her career and needs 13 more to surpass Tairia Mims and Stephany Larosa for third on UCLA's all-time list with 228.
Career Runs Scored: Brady has tallied 198 career runs scored and needs two more runs to pass Katie Schroeder's (2008-12) mark of 199 for fourth place on UCLA's all-time list.
Career Slugging Percentage: Brady's career slugging percentage keeps ballooning every week. Her current career mark of .750 ranks third all-time in UCLA history and is five points shy of passing LaRosa's .755 slugging percentage.
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Palacios Power
Redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios is enjoying her best season yet in Westwood with nine home runs, 25 RBI and a .738 slugging percentage. Palacios earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career on March 11 after going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam during UCLA's bye week contests versus Rutgers and LMU. Defensively, behind the dish, Palacios has yet to commit an error and has thrown out seven runners attempting to steal.ย
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In The Polls
ยท UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 12 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and No. 11 ESPN/USA Softball Poll.
ยท In addition, the Bruins have been slotted in the No. 2 spot in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office on Feb. 1. Stanford was selected as the league's preseason favorite, garnering seven of nine first-place votes. Washington and Utah each received one first-place vote.
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Young Arms
UCLA has relied solely on sophomore Taylor Tinsley and freshman Kaitlyn Terry in the circle the last three weekends. The two underclassmen have pitched all 69.0 innings in the Bruins' last 11 games. The young duo has shown consistent growth and flashes of brilliance throughout the season.
ยท Tinsley's best week of the season came at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Feb. 23-25) where she allowed just two earned runs and pitched three complete-games. She helped the Bruins to two ranked wins over then-No. 24 Northwestern and then-No. 5 Tennessee which earned her Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time in her career.ย ย
ยท Terry was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks (March 18 & 25). The southpaw put forth her most dominant outing of the season with a complete-game shutout in game three at Washington on March 24. She needed just 81 pitches, limiting the Huskies to two hits and a walk. Terry's performance marked the first shutout by a UCLA freshman versus a top-10 opponent since April 7, 2017, when Rachel Garcia shutout then-No. 1 Oregon. Terry retired the last 11 Huskies of the game and flashed the leather in the fourth inning, starting a 1-6-3 double play. Including her relief outing in game one, Terry allowed just one earned run over 12.1 innings in the series. Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2. The 12 strikeouts are tied with Megan Faraimo (2019) and Rachel Garcia (2017) for the most by a Bruins' freshman over the last 15 years. Donna Kerr was the last UCLA freshman to rack up 12+ strikeouts, recording 15 in a win over Northwestern on March 9, 2008.
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California Series History
UCLA leads the all-time series against California, 101-30-1, dating back to 1978. The Bruins have won 21 of the last 23 contests in the series dating back 2014. UCLA is riding a 12-game home winning streak versus California, and is 54-8 all-time when facing the Golden Bears at home. Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 31-12-1 record versus California as head coach (since 2007). The two squads have met frequently in the postseason with UCLA holding an 11-2 advantage. Most notably, the Bruins toppled the Golden Bears twice at the Women's College World Series in 2003 and 2004 to win back-to-back NCAA Championships. Keira Goerl became the first player to pitch a no-hitter at the WCWS in the 2003 title game.
The Series Last Year: UCLA won two out of three in last season's series in Berkeley. Then-freshman Megan Grant went 4-for-10 with a home run, double and team-high five RBI in the series. Maya Brady went 3-for-7 with a homer, four RBI and four walks.
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Chef is Cooking
Megan Grant's fourth-inning grand slam versus Oregon on March 29 marked her third big fly of the season and first since March 2 versus DePaul. Grant now has two grand slams to her name, including her shot at then-No. 24 Arizona in April 2023. This season, Grant ranks second on the squad with a .371 batting average and 36 hits.
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Grant was a NFCA Second Team All-American, NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 10 Finalist and All-Pac-12 First Team selection last season. The Bay Area native led the squad with 14 doubles and ranked second with 15 homers, 58 RBI, 31 extra-base hits and .695 slugging percentage. She ranked second among all freshman in the NCAA and led all Pac-12 freshmen with 58 RBI. Grant turned it up in conference play last season with a .403 batting average.
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UCLA in Pinch Hitting Situations
The Bruins are batting .412 (14-for-34) in pinch hitting situations this season. Six different players have been called upon to pinch hit. Ramsey Suarez leads the Bruins with four pinch hits and four RBI when coming off the bench. Suarez has gone 3-for-3 in pinch hitting scenarios in her last three home games at Easton Stadium. Suarez reached twice during the Oregon series (March 28-29) on two pinch-hit singles. Her two-RBI single in the bottom of the sixth in game one versus the Ducks on March 28 proved to be the difference in a 5-3 win. Stephens owns UCLA's only pinch-hit homer of the season, occurring versus Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2.
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Analyzing the Allchin Addition
ยท Allchin, a graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23), has provided clutch hits for the Bruins. In the fifth inning or later this season, Allchin is batting for a .437 average (14-for-32) with 10 RBI and 12 runs scored.
ยท Allchin has converted on all 11 RBI opportunities with a runner on third base and less than two outs.
ยท On March 12 versus Rutgers, Allchin delivered a walk-off single. Three days prior to that, Allchin played the hero in game two of UCLA's home series with Utah by knocking in the game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. At the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Allchin doubled in a run to spark a five-run seventh inning to help UCLA walk-off on Nebraska on Feb. 23.
ยท Allchin has been a mainstay in the top half of the Bruins' lineup the last month. In the Bruins' two games versus Oregon last week, Allchin went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and a triple. Allchin swiped two bases in game two versus Oregon on March 29, marking the first time this season a Bruin has stole more than one base in a game. In 2024, she is one of seven everyday UCLA starters batting above .300 (.300 avg.). Defensively, Allchin has recorded two outfield assists this season: one from left field in the Bruins' 6-2 win over Tennessee on Feb. 25. and one from center field against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11. She has totaled five outfield assists in her career.
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Stephens Stepping Up
Taylor Stephens has been inserted into the starting in each of the last for games (two starts at RF, two starts at DP). Stephens has reached base safely in all four games and notched a hit in three of those contests. Stephens recorded an RBI double each of the Bruins' first two games at Oregon State last week.
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Notable Trends
Walk-Offs: UCLA has three walk-off wins in the seventh inning through 28 games this season.
Coming From Behind: UCLA's opponents have scored first in 16 of its 32 games this season. The Bruins own a 9-7 record in games where their opponent scores first. In 2023, UCLA's opponents scored first in only 13 of its 59 total games. Additionally, UCLA's opponents have scored in the first inning 11 times this season compared to last season in which opponents scored in the first inning only eight times in 59 total games.
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Perfect vs. the Big Ten
UCLA went a perfect 6-0 versus its scheduled Big Ten Conference opponents this season with wins over Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan and Rutgers. UCLA Athletics announced its decision to join the Big Ten Conference on June 30, 2022. This move will go into effect at the start of the 2024-25 season.
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Celebrating the GOAT Softball Conference
The 2024 season marks UCLA's final as a member of the Pac-10/12 Conference. UCLA softball has been a member of the conference since 1987 (37 years) and has won 12 regular-season conference championships as a Pac-12 member institution. There have been 21 NCAA Division I Softball Championships won by five different Pac-12 Conference member schools in the tournament's 40-year history, which leads all conferences (UCLA - 9, Arizona - 8, Arizona State - 2, Washington - 1, California - 1).
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First pitch for Saturday is 5:05 p.m. and first pitch for Sunday is 2:05 p.m.
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Quick Hits
ยท UCLA is 23-9 on the season and 8-3 in Pac-12 play with series wins over Utah, No. 24 Oregon and Oregon State
ยท The Bruins are second in the Pac-12 standings and 2.5 games back of first-place No. 8 Stanford (32-6, 11-1 Pac-12).
ยท RS Sr. Maya Brady leads UCLA with a .396 average, 10 home runs, 38 runs batted in and 26 runs scored.
ยท For the second straight year, Brady is leading the Pac-12 in slugging percentage with an .802 mark.
ยท Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list (64). She has two multi-homer games this season.
ยท RS Sr. Sharlize Palacios is second on the team with nine home runs.
ยท So. Jordan Woolery has homered in three of her last seven games and has five total on the season.
ยท Fr. Kaitlyn Terry owns a perfect 11-0 record and leads UCLA with a 1.96 earned run average.
ยท Terry is one of three Pac-12 pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA. She has hauled in two Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards.
ยท Kelly Inouye-Perez is two wins away from 800 in her head coaching career.
ยท So. Taylor Tinsley has started the most games in the circle for UCLA (16) and recorded an 9-8 record and 2.39 ERA.
ยท The Bruins were picked to finish second in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll (did not receive a first-place vote).
ยท UCLA won its 12th Pac-12 regular-season championship in 2023 with a 21-3 record (17th overall conference title).
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Last Time Out
UCLA defeated Cal State Fullerton, 8-0, in six innings on Tuesday earlier this week. A pair of two-run homers off the bats of Maya Brady and Jordan Woolery in the first and second inning gave pitcher Kaitlyn Terry more than enough run support. The freshman southpaw twirled her fifth shutout of the season and struck out eight batters the process. UCLA rallied in the sixth inning for four runs on five hits, including three pinch hits, to mercy rule the Titans.
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Recapping the Oregon State Series
UCLA won two out of three games of its series at Oregon State last week (April 5-7) despite out-scoring the Beavers, 11-4.
Game 1 (W, 6-1): Taylor Tinsley struck out a career-high 12 batters and limited the opposition to just three hits in the Bruins' game one victory. All three of Oregon State's hits were courtesy of one player, Maddy Clark. Tinsley struck out multiple batters in five of the first six innings.
Game 2 (W, 5-2): Catcher Sharlize Palacios highlighted UCLA's offense with a 3-for-3 day, including a double. Jadelyn Allchin and Seneca Curo homered in the contests. Curo's home run marked her first of the season and first since February 2023.
Game 3 (L, 0-1): The Bruins were shutout for the third time this season in the series finale in Corvallis. UCLA now has two 1-0 shutout losses (other was to No. 13 Florida on March 1).
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Coach I Nearing 800 Wins
UCLA Head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 798-206-1 record and is two wins away from win No. 800 in her career. Inouye-Perez would join UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers and her two predecessors Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist in the 800 win club. Enquist leads UCLA's triad of head coaches with 887 career head coaching wins while Backus owns 854 such wins. Inouye-Perez was coached by both Backus and Enquist in her time as a catcher on the Bruins' roster from 1989-93 and later coached alongside Backus and Enquist as an assistant upon graduating. Only one active Pac-12 head coach has achieved 800 career wins: Heather Tarr at Washington.
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Terry's Impressive Freshman Campaign
With a win over Oregon State last week and Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, Kaitlyn Terry now sports a perfect 11-0 record across her 22 appearances this season. Terry's 11 wins are tied for fifth-most in the conference. With a minimum of 45 innings pitched, Terry is only pitcher in the Pac-12 without a loss on her record. Her 1.97 ERA ranks third in the conference.
ยท Terry has not allowed more than three runs in a game since late February (four runs allowed on Feb. 23 vs. Nebraska).
ยท Terry has went at least 5.0 innings in each of her last six starts and picked up a win in five of those games. In that span, Terry recorded a 0.98 ERA and struck out 25 batters of 35.2 innings.
ยท Terry leads all Pac-12 freshmen in ERA (1.97), strikeouts (84), innings pitched (88.2) and shutouts (5).
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Notes on Taylor Tinsley
Sophomore Taylor Tinsley has shown consistent improvement since week one of the season. In 2024, Tinsley owns a 2.39 ERA and 110 strikeouts over 88.2 innings pitched after totaling just 57.1 innings of work in all of last season in her All-Pac-12 Freshman Team campaign. Tinsley, the first UCLA softball player from the state of Georgia, was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 26 following her performances at the Mary Nutter Classic.ย
close losses: Four of Tinsley's eight losses this season have come in one-run ballgames. Tinsley allowed one earned run or less in all four of those losses.
game one starter: Tinsley has been the game one starter in three of UCLA's four Pac-12 series this season. She has started two games in two of the full three-game series (excludes Oregon Series, which had game three rained out).
at the Mary Nutter: Tinsley allowed just two earned runs across three complete-game performances and 22.0 total innings pitched at the Mary Nutter. Among all the pitchers competing at the Mary Nutter (30 teams participating), Tinsley ranked first in innings pitched (22.0) and strikeouts looking (10) and tied for first in strikeouts (30).
vs. Utah: Tinsley picked up two wins, struck out 16 batters and did not allow an earned run over 10.2 innings to help the Bruins to a series sweep of Utah (March 8-10). In her game one victory, Tinsley threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball and allowed only one base runner into scoring position. She finished her outing with nine strikeouts and surrendered just two hits. She limited the Pac-12 batting average leader entering the series, Haley Denning, to 0-for-6 with two Ks.
vs. Oregon: Tinsley allowed just one earned run and was the winning pitcher in both of UCLA's two games versus Oregon (March 28-29). In game one of the series, Tinsley entered in relief and got the Bruins out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning with a strikeout. She retired the Ducks in order in the seventh on just six pitches to close the game. Tinsley turned in 4.0 solid innings in her game-two start, allowing just one run.
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Brady's Senior Season
Brady's big fly versus Cal State Fullerton in the first inning marked her team-leading 10th homer of the season. Brady now has double-digit home runs in all four full seasons of her career (excludes 2020). Brady also leads the Pac-12 with an .802 slugging percentage through 32 games this season; she led the Pac-12 in slugging last season with an .866 mark.
ยท Brady notched her second two-homer game of the season and eighth of her career in the series finale at then-No. 8 Washington on March 24.
ยท The shortstop has shored up on the defensive side of the ball as well with just one error in the month of March (16 games). Since March 1, Brady's fielding percentage has improved 97 points to .910. This season marks Brady's second campaign as UCLA's starting shortstop. She took over the role full-time on March 3, 2023 after Seneca Curo sustained a season-ending injury. She has started at shortstop in 80 career games.
ยท In 2023, Brady was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 3 Finalist in addition to being a consensus First Team All-American. Brady led UCLA with a .448 average, 18 home runs, 59 RBI, 63 runs scored, 33 extra-base hits and 149 total bases last season.
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Brady in the Record Books
Career Home Runs: Brady ranks third on UCLA's career home runs list with 64. Although she won't touch Stacey Nuveman's program record (90 HR), Brady needs three home runs to pass Stephany LaRosa (2012-15) with 66 career home runs for second all-time. Brady's two-homer game versus Washington on March 24 pushed her passed Tairia Mims (2000-03) and Delaney Spaulding (2014-17) with 61 career homers.
Career Two-Homer Games: Brady's two homers against the Huskies on March 24 marked the eighth multi-homer game of her career which is the third most by a Bruin in UCLA history. She moved out of a tie with LaRosa and B.B. Batesย (2010-13) with seven. Andrea Harrison (2009-12) ranks second in UCLA history with nine multi-homer games while Stacey Nuveman is first with 12.
Career RBI: Brady became the seventh Bruin to reach 200 career RBI with her grand slam in the second inning of UCLA's 12-1 victory over Utah on March 10. Brady is up to 216 RBI in her career and needs 13 more to surpass Tairia Mims and Stephany Larosa for third on UCLA's all-time list with 228.
Career Runs Scored: Brady has tallied 198 career runs scored and needs two more runs to pass Katie Schroeder's (2008-12) mark of 199 for fourth place on UCLA's all-time list.
Career Slugging Percentage: Brady's career slugging percentage keeps ballooning every week. Her current career mark of .750 ranks third all-time in UCLA history and is five points shy of passing LaRosa's .755 slugging percentage.
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Palacios Power
Redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios is enjoying her best season yet in Westwood with nine home runs, 25 RBI and a .738 slugging percentage. Palacios earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career on March 11 after going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam during UCLA's bye week contests versus Rutgers and LMU. Defensively, behind the dish, Palacios has yet to commit an error and has thrown out seven runners attempting to steal.ย
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In The Polls
ยท UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 12 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and No. 11 ESPN/USA Softball Poll.
ยท In addition, the Bruins have been slotted in the No. 2 spot in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office on Feb. 1. Stanford was selected as the league's preseason favorite, garnering seven of nine first-place votes. Washington and Utah each received one first-place vote.
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Young Arms
UCLA has relied solely on sophomore Taylor Tinsley and freshman Kaitlyn Terry in the circle the last three weekends. The two underclassmen have pitched all 69.0 innings in the Bruins' last 11 games. The young duo has shown consistent growth and flashes of brilliance throughout the season.
ยท Tinsley's best week of the season came at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Feb. 23-25) where she allowed just two earned runs and pitched three complete-games. She helped the Bruins to two ranked wins over then-No. 24 Northwestern and then-No. 5 Tennessee which earned her Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time in her career.ย ย
ยท Terry was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks (March 18 & 25). The southpaw put forth her most dominant outing of the season with a complete-game shutout in game three at Washington on March 24. She needed just 81 pitches, limiting the Huskies to two hits and a walk. Terry's performance marked the first shutout by a UCLA freshman versus a top-10 opponent since April 7, 2017, when Rachel Garcia shutout then-No. 1 Oregon. Terry retired the last 11 Huskies of the game and flashed the leather in the fourth inning, starting a 1-6-3 double play. Including her relief outing in game one, Terry allowed just one earned run over 12.1 innings in the series. Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2. The 12 strikeouts are tied with Megan Faraimo (2019) and Rachel Garcia (2017) for the most by a Bruins' freshman over the last 15 years. Donna Kerr was the last UCLA freshman to rack up 12+ strikeouts, recording 15 in a win over Northwestern on March 9, 2008.
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California Series History
UCLA leads the all-time series against California, 101-30-1, dating back to 1978. The Bruins have won 21 of the last 23 contests in the series dating back 2014. UCLA is riding a 12-game home winning streak versus California, and is 54-8 all-time when facing the Golden Bears at home. Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 31-12-1 record versus California as head coach (since 2007). The two squads have met frequently in the postseason with UCLA holding an 11-2 advantage. Most notably, the Bruins toppled the Golden Bears twice at the Women's College World Series in 2003 and 2004 to win back-to-back NCAA Championships. Keira Goerl became the first player to pitch a no-hitter at the WCWS in the 2003 title game.
The Series Last Year: UCLA won two out of three in last season's series in Berkeley. Then-freshman Megan Grant went 4-for-10 with a home run, double and team-high five RBI in the series. Maya Brady went 3-for-7 with a homer, four RBI and four walks.
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Chef is Cooking
Megan Grant's fourth-inning grand slam versus Oregon on March 29 marked her third big fly of the season and first since March 2 versus DePaul. Grant now has two grand slams to her name, including her shot at then-No. 24 Arizona in April 2023. This season, Grant ranks second on the squad with a .371 batting average and 36 hits.
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Grant was a NFCA Second Team All-American, NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 10 Finalist and All-Pac-12 First Team selection last season. The Bay Area native led the squad with 14 doubles and ranked second with 15 homers, 58 RBI, 31 extra-base hits and .695 slugging percentage. She ranked second among all freshman in the NCAA and led all Pac-12 freshmen with 58 RBI. Grant turned it up in conference play last season with a .403 batting average.
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UCLA in Pinch Hitting Situations
The Bruins are batting .412 (14-for-34) in pinch hitting situations this season. Six different players have been called upon to pinch hit. Ramsey Suarez leads the Bruins with four pinch hits and four RBI when coming off the bench. Suarez has gone 3-for-3 in pinch hitting scenarios in her last three home games at Easton Stadium. Suarez reached twice during the Oregon series (March 28-29) on two pinch-hit singles. Her two-RBI single in the bottom of the sixth in game one versus the Ducks on March 28 proved to be the difference in a 5-3 win. Stephens owns UCLA's only pinch-hit homer of the season, occurring versus Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2.
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Analyzing the Allchin Addition
ยท Allchin, a graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23), has provided clutch hits for the Bruins. In the fifth inning or later this season, Allchin is batting for a .437 average (14-for-32) with 10 RBI and 12 runs scored.
ยท Allchin has converted on all 11 RBI opportunities with a runner on third base and less than two outs.
ยท On March 12 versus Rutgers, Allchin delivered a walk-off single. Three days prior to that, Allchin played the hero in game two of UCLA's home series with Utah by knocking in the game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. At the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Allchin doubled in a run to spark a five-run seventh inning to help UCLA walk-off on Nebraska on Feb. 23.
ยท Allchin has been a mainstay in the top half of the Bruins' lineup the last month. In the Bruins' two games versus Oregon last week, Allchin went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and a triple. Allchin swiped two bases in game two versus Oregon on March 29, marking the first time this season a Bruin has stole more than one base in a game. In 2024, she is one of seven everyday UCLA starters batting above .300 (.300 avg.). Defensively, Allchin has recorded two outfield assists this season: one from left field in the Bruins' 6-2 win over Tennessee on Feb. 25. and one from center field against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11. She has totaled five outfield assists in her career.
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Stephens Stepping Up
Taylor Stephens has been inserted into the starting in each of the last for games (two starts at RF, two starts at DP). Stephens has reached base safely in all four games and notched a hit in three of those contests. Stephens recorded an RBI double each of the Bruins' first two games at Oregon State last week.
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Notable Trends
Walk-Offs: UCLA has three walk-off wins in the seventh inning through 28 games this season.
Coming From Behind: UCLA's opponents have scored first in 16 of its 32 games this season. The Bruins own a 9-7 record in games where their opponent scores first. In 2023, UCLA's opponents scored first in only 13 of its 59 total games. Additionally, UCLA's opponents have scored in the first inning 11 times this season compared to last season in which opponents scored in the first inning only eight times in 59 total games.
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Perfect vs. the Big Ten
UCLA went a perfect 6-0 versus its scheduled Big Ten Conference opponents this season with wins over Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan and Rutgers. UCLA Athletics announced its decision to join the Big Ten Conference on June 30, 2022. This move will go into effect at the start of the 2024-25 season.
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Celebrating the GOAT Softball Conference
The 2024 season marks UCLA's final as a member of the Pac-10/12 Conference. UCLA softball has been a member of the conference since 1987 (37 years) and has won 12 regular-season conference championships as a Pac-12 member institution. There have been 21 NCAA Division I Softball Championships won by five different Pac-12 Conference member schools in the tournament's 40-year history, which leads all conferences (UCLA - 9, Arizona - 8, Arizona State - 2, Washington - 1, California - 1).
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Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P/1B
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
UTIL
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INF
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballUCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Tennessee (June 1, 2025)
Sunday, June 01
UCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Texas Tech (May 31, 2025)
Saturday, May 31
Highlights - UCLA Softball vs. Oregon (May 29, 2025)
Thursday, May 29
UCLA Softball Postgame - Coach Inouye-Perez & Players, vs. Oregon (May 29, 2025)
Thursday, May 29